The Radar Research and Development Establishment, RRDE for short, was a civilian research organization run by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

that primarily studied the development of

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

for

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

use. The group traces its history to the

Searchlight Experimental Establishment The Searchlight Experimental Establishment, or SLEE, was a Royal Engineers research group who studied the improvement of searchlights and other anti-aircraft systems like sound locators and predictors. The SLEE initially formed up at Woolwich Com ...

which moved to

RAF Biggin Hill London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a small ...

in 1924, and the "Army Cell" operating at

Bawdsey Manor Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about northeast of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William C ...

researching radar beside their

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

counterparts. In 1941 the Army groups merged and moved to

Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Pa ...

and were renamed the

Air Defence Research and Development Establishment The Air Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) was a civilian research organization run by the War Office that primarily studied the development of radar for British Army use. It was formed in 1941 from the merger of the Air Defenc ...

. In May 1942 the group moved again, this time to an inland location at

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dr ...

, and were once again renamed to become the RRDE. Their Air Ministry counterparts, who had also moved to the Dorset area and been renamed the

Telecommunications Research Establishment The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) d ...

(TRE), joined them in Malvern over the next few months. The RRDE retained their name until 1953 when they merged with the TRE to form the unified Radar Research Establishment. The RRE was renamed in 1957 by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to become the

Royal Radar Establishment The Royal Radar Establishment was a research centre in Malvern, Worcestershire in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1953 as the Radar Research Establishment by the merger of the Air Ministry's Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) a ...

References

* * {{coord, 52.13414, -2.33509, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Buildings and structures in Malvern, Worcestershire History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Military radars Military research establishments of the United Kingdom 20th-century military history of the United Kingdom Research institutes in Worcestershire